I Will Always Find You
by Sara The Lady Dalian
Summary: What if someone knew, beyond a doubt, that James Buchanan Barnes was alive, and hadn't died in that fall. What effect would it have on Bucky to have someone there, to heal his mind, to remind him of who he was, and to provide him some small part of a normal existence, outside of HYDRA? Ali had always been able to find him, and she sets off to do just that.
1. Chapter 1 - Brooklyn 1945

I Will Always Find You

by Sara, the Lady Dalian

Brooklyn, New York, February 1945

One day a pretty, brunette English woman by the name of Peggy Carter came to Brooklyn. This wasn't a duty she normally performed, but she was going to be in New York anyway having meetings and she told Steve she would come and deliver the news herself, as a favor. Steve didn't want his best friend's parents to find out their son was dead in a telegram. Mrs. Barnes couldn't believe that her son was dead, certainly not without proof. And with that need, she took Peggy Carter's hand, she walked out the door and down the block.

Kowalski's bakery was just closing down the front of the store for the day when Mrs. Barnes and Peggy walked in. It was warm and humid from the proofing ovens but at this time of day, there was no one in the front of the store. When Mrs. Barnes asked about speaking to Ali, her boss gave her the rest of the afternoon off, and permission to use his office. "I hope you can help, Mrs. Barnes. Ali hasn't been right these last couple of weeks. Som'ins wrong." He led the women to the back room, where a young black-haired woman was washing out long pans in a sink.

"Ali?" The young woman turned at the sound of her name and saw the others waiting for her. The women could see what Mr. Kowalski meant about something being wrong with Ali. Her eyes were red and puffy, it looked like she hadn't slept in a long time and she was practically gaunt. "Oh, child, come here." Mrs. Barnes held out her hand to Ali, and the young turned into her arms. They held each other for a few minutes, the older muttering loving, mother things to the young woman. She knew that Ali had loved her oldest son for a long time, and the separation from him was likely causing these problems. "Ali, this is Agent Carter, from the army. She has news of Bucky."

When Mrs. Barnes asks Peggy to tell Ali about Bucky, Ali won't hear of it. "My Jamie isn't dead. I know…" She was wild-eyed, not believing. "I don't know who you are, or what you think you know, but Jamie isn't… he's in too much pain to be dead." The young woman kept shaking her head, her eyes wide. She was rubbing her left arm, right at the shoulder, as if trying to rub out an ache that had settled in the bone.

"Do you know where my boy is, Ali?"

Ali looked from her Jamie's mother to the statuesque woman in Army uniform, then she closed her eyes and turned to the east, rotating until she was looking slightly northeast. Tears started rolling down her face. "Always. He's afraid, Mrs. Barnes. I've never felt him like this. It's cold, he's in pain, and scared. There's something wrong with his arm." She looked back at Peggy and then turned back the same direction. "Your people need to find him. Please! Jamie shouldn't be afraid. He's there and has been there for too long. I don't know how far away, but there," the young woman pointed off in the same direction she had faced before.

Peggy looked back at the young woman. She looked like all the others who had lost men they loved. It was why these notices were usually telegraphed. There were too many, and it was simply exhausting to tell people that their loved one wasn't coming home. "I'm sorry for your loss, both of you."

The young woman looked back at her, tears drying up. "You're not going to tell them are you?"

"There's nothing to tell. He fell over the Danube river. The fall would have killed him, even if the weather didn't. I'm sorry." The young woman and her Jamie's mother didn't think she looked too sorry. They held each other as Agent Carter walked out of the back room and from the shop. It was a more than two decades before Peggy Carter saw that young woman again.

The next morning, before sunrise, Ali knocked on the Barnes' tenement door. Mrs. Barnes opens the door to find Ali with a knapsack on her back, rough men's clothes on her body and steel in her eyes. She brought the young woman into the apartment and drew her into a hug. "I know why you're here, girl. Come on, I've packed some things for you." Ali leaves with some extra some food, some of Jamie's old heavy work clothes and a little money for her to stash in her knapsack. "Where will you go?"

"Wherever I have to go to find him." And, with that, Alianna left Brooklyn heading to a war-torn Europe. The war would be officially over soon, but she still had a long journey ahead of her. While she never saw Mrs. Barnes again, she sent postcards whenever she could. Fortunately one day, one finally came with the message, "I've found him."

A/N: I'm putting my disclaimer down here so as not to interrupt the flow of the story. Here's the one and only. I do not own Marvel or any other recognizable market. And FYI – even though I don't own them, either, there's a Kowalski's market in Minneapolis that sells baked goods.

Let me know what you all think. I've got this all planned out and about half written. Right now, the plan calls for the bare bones of the story, but there's room for more if I can work it in. The story will make everything after CW: WS obsolete. So – Infinity Wars isn't a problem. Here's hoping Endgame will make that movie much easier to watch. James Buchanan Barnes deserves to live. And be happy.


	2. Chapter 2 - Rome 1950

I Will Always Find You

by Sara, the Lady Dalian

Rome, Italy, 1950

Ali left the Biblioteca Storica Nazionale dell'Agricoltura, and walked through the streets of Rome towards the little cafe where she usually ate her lunch. She had spent months combing through the libraries of Europe looking for information on topics that she could barely name because she didn't know yet what had happened to her Jamie. She was studying traditional herbal healing here and had made plans to move onto Athens, then Istanbul when she had finished in Rome. Walking along the narrow streets, she pulled the hood of her raincoat over her face. The late April weather had brought a slow drizzle all day and she was soon soaked to the bone.

It had been a little more than five years since Bucky had been listed as missing and while she had only felt cold for the longest time, she had recently felt him warming and moving. Each time she listened, she could feel more, get more of a sense of his surroundings, get more of a sense of what was going on, and she didn't like what the connection told her one bit. Ever since that day when she met James Buchanan Barnes, she had always had a connection to him. It had developed into a knowing as her mother called it. She always knew where he was. She had skirted the coast of the Baltic Sea to the edge of the Gulf of Finland, down the border of Soviet countries and down through Greece and Turkey. By triangulating the headings she read, she got a good idea of where he was, but she had no way to safely travel into the heart of Russia.

Still restless from Jamie's movements, she wasn't paying attention to her surroundings. as she started to cross the road. Just steps away, she heard the staccato beat of gunfire and felt an arm around her middle as she was pulled away from a car running into the building right where she had been standing. The gunfire sounded again in her ear as she looked up at the person shooting and holding her. She could see the side of his face as he moved her back further up the street. As he turned her away from the people shooting at them, his arm catching bullets with a metal ting, she saw his eyes sweep over the street, looking for more enemies. It was then she saw more of his face and recognized the eyes, the cheeks and jaw of the man she had been searching for these last five years.

Looking around his chest, she saw nothing moving, but she had no desire to wait around until the polizia or the carabinieri showed up. "There's an alley about ten meters up on the left that leads out of the neighborhood." Living on the outside of normal society, as she did, had done nothing to endear those organizations to her, and she wasn't keen on meeting up with them just now. Not just then. Not with Jamie here. 

"You better hope so." Jamie, in a voice she hardly recognized, pushed her up the street towards the alley she pointed towards. Running quickly down the alley, they passed by building after building, until he found a dusty, chained up storeroom door. The chain was easily broken and he pushed her through the door.

As he closed it, she pulled him away from the door. Running her hands over his face and then down his arms looking for blood she found his metal arm. "James Buchanan Barnes, what have they done to you?" He looked at her without recognition, trying to move away from her. "Stay still just a moment. I'm trying to see if you're hurt."

"What did you call me? Who are you?" He turned her around, back to the wall, as he looked into her eyes. It was several years since he had seen her, and she had no doubts that even her mother would struggle to recognize her now.

"My name is Alianna. You are James Buchanan Barnes. Most everyone calls you Bucky. I've always called you Jamie. You were born on March 10, 1917. Your best friend is Steve, you served in the army with him. We all lived in Brooklyn. You love the sweet rolls from Kowalski's. You hate carrots but you eat them to make your mom happy." She looked up at him to see if there were any recognition in his eyes. "You fell from a train in 1945 and were taken somewhere cold. You've been there a long time, so long." Tears started down her cheeks. "They hurt you there. I don't know what all they did, but..."

"I… I am Soldat. Nothing else. I exist to follow my mission. I don't know who you're talking about." He moved away from her, while he kept her in his sights.

"Will you tell me if you're hurt. I am studying healing, I can help, Jamie." She takes a step towards him, still searching for injuries.

"No, I'm not hurt. You have to go. You can't be here. It's not safe. I'm dangerous." He moves further away from him.

Alianna stopped. He was becoming agitated, and she didn't want to upset him further. Something was dreadfully wrong with his memory. She knew Jamie had been a soldier, but wartime was one thing, shooting people in the street was another. Whoever had done this to him hadn't done this for a one time action, this was a long term operation. "Someone sent you here, on a mission? Have you completed it? Do you need to go? Is it safe for you?"

He looked back at her before turning away and walking towards the door. "If they find you, they'll kill you." His voice was closed and measured, but she thought she heard a bit of sadness as well.

She smiled a little as she told him, "Well, I've found I'm not the easiest to kill nowadays." He looked back at her as she said this. "Stay safe and do what you have to do to stay alive. I will find you again someday, Jamie." Knowing that she would continue to monitor his movements as much as she could, she did the hardest thing she had ever done in her life and let him go. There was much that she would have to think about.

But one of the first things she would have to do is get out of Rome.

AN: We finally see them together, even if it is short. I'll be updating on the weekends and the chapters do get longer, it's just that these first episodes are so short themselves. We will see Jamie and Ali in several places all over the world before we end up in Washington and New York after CA: WS. As a reminder, everything after WS doesn't happen and never will in my head cannon.


	3. Interlude 1 - HYDRA 1958

I Will Always Find You

by Sara Lady Dalian

Interlude 1 – HYDRA Facility, 1958

Soldat stood in the training room in his facility hitting a bag. The doctor said that he had to keep his muscles strong, so training was something he was allowed to do. It was necessary, he said to himself. As he pounded on the bag, he felt the skin on his knuckles burst and clot in a cycle. He kept going. Bag work was followed by running, which was followed by squats, sit ups and pull ups, these were followed by hand-to-hand. All day, every day, in a never-ending cycle.

The exercise cleared the fog the chair put in his brain and allowed him to remember again. He remembered the missions and the training. He remembered the talks he received about HYDRA's work and the necessity of removing obstacles to order. He remembered the cold violence. He remembered all of it.

HYDRA used him as a weapon, a weapon that killed without impunity for a cause he didn't espouse. When he was fresh from the chair, he didn't care about ideology, just the mission and what he was told to do by his handler. There was no wavering allowed, nor any performed.

What he didn't remember was the time Before. Before the chair, Before the pain, Before not remembering. Try as he might, chasing the Before was like setting fire ants into his brain. He couldn't get rid of them and they stung and a bit. So he eventually stopped trying to recall the Before time.

When the pain from the ants faded, he thought and thought about his missions again. There was something there that he couldn't quite recall. Something special, secret. Those memories were wrapped up in warmth, satin, light, gossamer softness and, conversely, silky toughness. These were the memories that kept him going, even though he couldn't seem to grab hold of them, he knew they were there. They soothed the ants and protected the Before.

Pulling a towel over his head, he walked back through the facility, knowing that every move he made was being monitored and analyzed for deviation from his norm and instructions. Everything was planned out and prescribed. Everything, but those memories wrapped in light. Those were forbidden. If HYDRA found them, they would excise them with ruthless precision, never to be seen again.

He wasn't afraid, but he knew that this was something he must keep to himself, something private. After all, he has done, something he would take for himself without regret. He just hoped he would continue to remember that there was something to remember.

As he fell into sleep, he heard a woman's soft voice say, "Stay safe. Do what you have to do to stay alive. I will always find you again, Jamie." Somehow he knew that that voice was wrapped up in that soft, silky memory. It was that voice he listened to. That voice he reached for when he was alone. And that voice he vowed to protect. He didn't know who she was but wanted her to find him again. He wanted the warmth her memory gave off.

Do what you have to do to stay alive.

They will kill you if they find you.

His new mission, make sure they never found her.

AN: There will be several interludes, published on Wednesdays, between chapters which are posted on Saturdays.


	4. Chapter 3 - Wakanda 1959

I Will Always Find You

by Sara Lady Dalian

Wakanda – 1959

One of the first things she fell in love with in Africa were the colors. She had no idea there were so many shades in all the world. Every morning she would awake from wherever she had made her nest, and she would listen to the world as it awoke with her. It was in Africa she learned that the sunrise had a song and if you listened carefully it would wake your soul.

She had been traveling for almost a month, looking longingly at the animals around her playing, when she suddenly found herself surrounded by people. Holding back a laugh, she leaned on her staff and wondered if they had sprung up out of the ground. They spoke to her, but it wasn't a language she knew. As she had traveled in Africa, she had picked up bits of several languages. Having spent several months with the Maasai, she tried, "Supai," with a small head nod to the one who seemed to be leading the others.

It was more surprise than he showed, but he answered, "Hello to you, as well." She smiled to hear his English, though it was heavily accented it was perfectly understandable. "Why have you come to our lands?" He was neither antagonistic or rude, but she could tell he was perfectly serious.

"I have several purposes here. I am simply a traveler who is interested in medicinal plants, but I have also brought a gift from a friend to her sister. Naeku told me how to get here, though, looking around now, I'm wondering if I've lost my way." She looked the man right in the eye. It wasn't the standard behavior for many African women, but she didn't want to appear subservient. Never having played that role in her life, she didn't have any wish to start now.

The men talked around her. It wasn't long before she noticed them looking at the staff she carried. They each had a spear in their hands that she would bet her boots they were capable of using.

The man who had spoken before said something to the others and they stopped talking around her. "I would see that staff of yours." He held out his hand as if there was no chance of her refusing.

"I would gladly show you my staff, but that would leave me without the protection it provides, and that is something I'm weary to do." Politeness was key in many situations, and she hoped that she kept her manners in check. This could get out of hand very quickly. She had experience with overzealous men trying to assert their dominance to take offense. "I've traveled over four continents, so far, and I have yet to meet a people who didn't share names upon meeting. I am Alianna, as I said, I'm a traveler. May I ask your name?"

"I am called N'Daru. These are my clansmen." He looked at her with what she thought was a measure of respect for not giving up her weapon. "We will lead you in, come."

With that, she walked through the tree line and into something she definitely didn't expect. As they walked down a path, she could see a city, one that filled a valley and shown like the fabled city of El Dorado. She stopped and had to stare in awe at the beautiful sight before her. N'Daru stopped when he realized that she was no longer beside him. Looking back at her, he saw the smile and appreciation on her face and recognized it well. He felt the same way. "Come, if you're lucky, you'll get to see more of it. But we must keep going."

"You are all very lucky to be living in such a beautiful place." Her mind contrasted this with the war-torn damage that was most of Europe and thought Wakanda would win in any contest between the two. "Would that the whole world was such a peaceful place." The men with her smiled, she knew she had said something they agreed with. "The damage to Europe is so bad it will take decades, if not a century to be restored, to say nothing of the damage to the people."

They walked a little longer down the trail until they came to a small group of homes, with children playing outside of them. They ran up to and around the warriors that were escorting her. There was one little girl that stood, peeking around the robes of the man walking next to N'Daru. She had big, bright brown eyes and a beautiful smile. Ali couldn't help but squat down on the path and look at her, playing a game of peek-a-boo. The little girl grinned and played along until she slowly crept out from the man's robes and squatted down to mimic Ali. Slowly a finger would reach out and then pull back, reach out and then pull back. Ali was giggling right along with the rest of the children. The little girl's smile was contagious as she worked up the courage to touch the strange woman who had entered their village. Eventually, the little girl got up the courage to stroke Ali's face and hair. N'Daru and his men watched as the white woman was captivated and captured by their clan's little girl. As they were communicating as only woman and child can, they watched the woman slip a small thing from her pocket and whispered the work "kallistō" to the little girl. Ali stood as she watched her little friend show the other children the little, woven grass heart she had been given.

N'Daru told the children they had to go, to run back to the mothers who were watching from the trees. As the walked away, they noticed that the white woman, Alianna, was still smiling. When one of the other men asked what she had given to the child, she showed her one of the grass hearts that she made the night before in her nest. "One summer when I was a child, it was so hot, nobody dared move because we were all afraid of burning to death. Most of us didn't have shoes that didn't have holes in them, and the pavement would burn our feet. The very air was so hot it hurt to breathe. We used to gather in the shade of this one deserted building that had a little grass patch by the back stoop. That summer, the grasses were dying so quickly there were more dirt patches than any kind of grass anywhere in Brooklyn. Behind this building, there was a small patch of grass that was just a little green. My Jamie spent one day we were sitting back there showing me and his friend Steve how to weave these little hearts out of long grass blades."

Ali fingered the little heart as she and the men walked. "When I saw the beautiful grass that was growing where I rested for the night, I couldn't help but weave a few of them, just remembering." She nodded back to the village they had just left. "The little girl back there, the shape of her eyes reminded me of Jamie. He was a charmer, too. He could cock his head and give a grin that would get him, and one of us, out of just about anything." So lost in her own memory, she didn't even notice the other men smile at each other in her true enjoyment of their children.

As they passed a farm that raised war rhinos, they pointed out the animals being raised and permit her to move closer to the pens. The rhinos are being fed for the day when they arrived. One of the smaller ones moved over to the fence and some of the men started rubbing its head. N'Daru looked over at her and asked, "Why do you not come and greet the young calf?"

"I've learned that African animals prefer to be left alone and admired from afar. They don't know me, and I wouldn't want to upset him." She smiled at N'Daru. "He is adorable, though." All the men could see what she wanted, and they admired her restraint among unknown animals, but N'Daru beckoned her forward.

"This one won't hurt you. Come, he likes his head rubbed." His grin was wide, as the young woman stepped forward and presented her hand to the young animal.

She grinned when he blew on her palm and bent his head for rubbing. She stepped up on the fence to get a better reach, and whispered, "Kali méra ischyri," to him as she stepped down. "You all do not believe in doing things by half measures do you?" The men laughed at her statement as they moved back to the path to the city.

IWAFY ** IWAFY ** IWAFY ** IWAFY **

That evening at supper time, Ali sat in a small courtyard looking at the sunset. It was a long and slow red and purple parade that seemed to radiate contentment into every life form under its gaze. Ali was still picking at the piece of bread roll that had been on her dinner tray when she heard light footsteps behind her. Turning, she rose from her seat and smiled at the woman who greeted her.

"Hello. Welcome to Wakanda." She was a little taller than Ali, muscular and very beautiful. She also appeared to be very kind. "I'm glad someone got you something to eat. I'm sorry you had to wait so long, I was detained elsewhere. My friend N'Daru said you asked to see me." She gestured to the bench Alianna had been sitting on. "Please, let's sit."

Alianna nodded, looking around the courtyard and saw that there were now six guards standing with them. "Thank you for seeing me. Yes, you are Nanali?" The other woman nodded. "My name is Alianna. I spent some months in Kenya with Naeku and her family. They have a new baby, by the way. They named her Lalina." Ali smiled, remembering the little girl. "She sent a packet for you." Ali picked up her knapsack and lifted out the folded leather envelope. "She said I was to give it only to you, and if I couldn't find you to burn it."

Nanali looked at her and grimaced. Nothing should have been that important that they couldn't have been sent in their usual way and time. She took the packet with solemnity and tucked into her dress. "N'Daru says you call yourself a traveler. You must tell me, for I've never done much traveling, where have your travels taken you that you wound up at our door."

The two women sat, in the courtyard for almost two hours, drinking the water that was brought for them, and talking about the world that Ali had seen. The guards pretended not to listen, but they, too, were curious about the strange woman that had come to Wakanda. Ali told them of leaving New York, heading to Belgium and her trip down through war-torn Europe to Greece and Turkey hired on to a relief organization. She told her of her trip back to the Pyrenees to wait out the end of the war and the journey that followed the 107th's path to that bridge over the Danube river. She told them of her trip to Europe's libraries looking for information on natural healing. She also looked for information on memory loss once she had seen Jamie in Rome, but didn't tell Nanali about that.

Then, Ali told Nanali about her journey through Africa, from Morocco to Cairo, once again looking in libraries and hiring on for short periods of time as a healer in the poorer neighborhoods. She told of her trip down the eastern edge of Africa, where she met Naeku and the Maasai people. She told about the healing they had done, and the herbs she had shown them a new use for. Then she told about her journey here and the children she met on the way.

"N'Daru said you called the little girl a name, but he didn't understand what it was," Nanali stated.

"Kallistō, it means 'she who is most beautiful' in Greek. It certainly fit." Ali swiped at a few stray tears that started to form when she thought about the eyes that were the shape of her Jamie's and the charming smile that could have been a dead ringer for his.

The taller woman saw Ali's tears and gave her a minute, before standing up. "You will stay with us tonight. Tomorrow, I think you and my husband need to have a talk about topics of mutual interest." She took the younger woman's arm and guided her back into the building.

One of the guards bowed as they came in, "My queen," and shut the door behind them.

Ali stopped, causing her new friend to look back at her. She saw the white woman's eyes, wide with surprise. "Come, Alianna. We're friends, yes? And we'll be more so tomorrow after you talk with Azzuri." She pulled a little more, "Come on, you've got to be tired. The sooner you get to sleep, the sooner you will be able to get up in the morning to start a new day. Come." This time the woman with the black platted hair followed as she was led through what she now knew was a palace. Nanali stopped at a door that a guard pushed open. "You may stay here tonight. I will have someone bring you some fresh water tonight and then have someone come and get you in the morning." Nanali kissed the young woman on the cheek, she was so tickled by her tales and reaction. "Have a good night and we'll see you in the morning."

Ali looked around the room and couldn't believe where she was. She set her knapsack on the bed and watched it sink a little. She sat on the bed and was distressed about how soft it was, unsure if she would get any sleep at all. She was more than happy to use the bathing facilities to take a proper bath with real soap. She had been using sand to clean herself for so long that she had almost forgotten what soap felt like.

After scrubbing all over and soaking for longer than felt decent, she wrapped herself in a towel and walked back into the bedroom. As she was changing for bed, she heard a soft knock on the door. Covering herself, she invited, "Come in."

An older woman came in bearing a tray with a cup and water pitcher. "Queen Nanali asked me to bring you this. Do you have any clothes that need to be cleaned? I can have them back to you tomorrow morning." She looked at the woman who looked little more than a girl.

"I travel very light, there isn't much." She thought of the clothes that she had left. She only had one of Jamie's shirts left that his mother had packed, the rest of the clothes that she had originally packed had disintegrated over the years. The older woman smiled at her and just held out her hands. Ali went into her pack and into the bathroom where she had folded the clothes she had been wearing. The old woman smiled and walked out the door.

Ali sat once more on the bed and couldn't seem to get comfortable. With a sigh, she pulled off the bedspread and sheet and laid on the floor. She was asleep before she got all laid down.

IWAFY ** IWAFY ** IWAFY ** IWAFY **

The queen spoke to the woman she had set to look after Alianna. She saw the clothes that were well cared for, but also well used. She also heard about the man's shirt that the young woman kept hold of while giving her other clothes away. This young woman was an interesting puzzle, that was for sure.

When Nanali spoke to her husband, she mentioned that she wanted him to speak to the young white woman that had come to Wakanda. She told him of the respect that Alianna had paid the men who found her, the love she showed the children and the rhinos in the field and the stories that she had told.

"What I don't understand Azzuri is how she has done this. She is so very young to have come this far, but there is no way she could have known some of what she does. And she speaks so familiarly about the 107th that it is uncanny." She thought also of the emotions she saw on the girl's face. "There is something about the war that plague's her, but she was reluctant to talk about what it was with me. I'm hoping that you can help her." She looked at her husband in the way all women do when they want something that they know their husband would protest doing.

"I will see her in the morning. It can't help but be more interesting than listening to the council drone on about the budget." He laughs with his wife about the banalities of ruling a country. "If, as you say, she is connected, somehow, with the 107th, it will be good to speak with her. It's possible that someone in her family served – that could cause the reluctance and emotion you felt." He pulled his wife into their bedroom and continued, "Come, Nali, let's head to bed, my love."

IWAFY ** IWAFY ** IWAFY ** IWAFY **

In the morning, Ali was awoken by a soft footfall in the room. The same woman was returning the cleaned clothes. She saw the young woman waking and whispered, "Good morning. Since you're awake, I'll help you get dressed. I've got your clothes cleaned and mended. I've also brought a clean dress for your reception with the king this morning and I'll braid your hair this morning. I noticed that you had it braided last night, but I'll put it back for you this morning. King Azzuri and Queen Nanali have invited you to breakfast. That will be in a little over an hour." She helped the woman fold the rest of the bedclothes and draped the bright green dress over her head and fastened it around her in the traditional manner. Ali laughed a little, but she felt like a doll that someone was playing dress up with!

It was just over an hour later that she was shown into a small breakfast room overlooking the valley. The sun was just creeping over the ridges and onto the land and Ali thought that if some painter should capture its beauty for posterity, the rest of the world would weep. She nodded to both Nanali and the man sitting with her but remained standing. She remembered the manners that the mothers in the neighborhood had taught her.

Nanali got up and took her hand. "Come, Alianna, sit down and eat with us. Let me introduce my husband Azzuri. If we were anywhere near one of the official rooms, I would have to be more formal of course, but we're not, so let's not." She laughed at the grin on the other girl's face.

"Of course, my queen. Whatever you say." Ali laughed her head off at the pout on her new friend's face. "And, please, my queen," Alianna squeezed the hand that still gripped her, "my friends have only ever called me Ali." She looked at the other woman with a very frank look. Her talk last night and the kindness that she had been shown had touched her greatly.

"I'd be delighted, my friend! What a beautiful start to the day." As they both sat, Nanali looked at her husband and nodded as if to say, 'now, husband.'

Azzuri laughed at his bride and waited until the young woman had filled her plate with fruit and a bread roll. "My wife has told me of the amazing tour you undertook in Europe. I was impressed and found it interesting that much of your route followed the path of the 107th. Did you have family in the unit?"

At the mention of Jamie's unit, she raised her head and looked into Azzuri's eyes. The question brushed deep into her heart and she wondered how much of her story she could bear telling. "I guess you could say I did." She looked back to her plate and picked p her napkin. She fiddled with it for a bit as she made up her mind. These were rulers of a country they seemed to be very nice people. She sighed, put down the napkin and then asked, "How old do you think I am?" She looked in the king's eyes and waited.

It was an unusual question and he didn't know what to make of it. Sitting back, he looked at her. To appearances, she seemed a very young woman, very early 20s. But by his wife's account, she had been traveling, for many years. The two pieces of information didn't match. "I do not know. You look young, but you've seen more than one of your apparent age should have been able to."

Alianna nodded in complete agreement. She didn't know how to have this conversation with anyone, as she had never been able to answer the questions that she knew would be asked her. "I was born on August 1, 1923. Two of the members of Howling Commandos the 107th were neighbors of ours in Brooklyn." She watched as shock played on Nanali's face and suspicion played on Azzuri's. "When I was 20, I was told the only person to mean anything to me had died, but I didn't believe it. I came to Europe to find him, or at least find out what happened to him."

"You're looking for Sgt. Barnes?" the king asked guardedly.

Just hearing someone else say his name kicked Ali in the gut. "His name was James Buchanan Barnes. They say he died when falling over the Danube river." She looked at the man who was asking about such painful and joyous topics. Painful because she missed Jamie so much and joyous to just be able to speak of him.

"If you are looking for him, I take it you do not believe the story of his death?" The king's voice was tight with emotions. She wondered what role the war had played for him. He watched her shake her head.

"I know he's not dead. I knew it when we were told he was, I knew it when I crossed the ocean, I knew it when I stood beside that train track and I knew it when I saw and spoke to him in Rome three years ago." She watched Azzuri's face as he listened to her. She saw a mixture of emotion, not all of which she recognized.

"You saw him? And spoke to him?" He looked at his wife with the look that conveys more than it looks like. "There can be no mistake?" He looked at his wife's new friend.

She shook her head. "I would know my Jamie anywhere. But, he's not the same anymore. He was captured and they did something to his memory." She fiddled with some of the fruit on her plate. "That is why I am looking into healing herbs and information on healing memory loss. I will find a way to cure what they did to him. I don't know when, how or where I'll find it, but I will see him freed." She sighed and looked at the pair and waited for their reaction. She knew that what she was saying, and not saying, was hard to believe, but she knew it to be the truth.

Nalini then spoke up, "Naeku asked that you be trained in how to use the weapon she gave you. She thought that the women here could teach you how to safely use the staff so that you would be better able to protect yourself," she held up her hand, "I realize that you must have done well so far, as you are still alive, after such a long journey, but Naeku was worried that if your travels take you to more dangerous places, you should at least have the knowledge." She looked at her husband. "That is training I would like to you accept. If, as you say, you will be skirting contact with those who have taken your James, then it would be to your advantage to have the training and not need it than to need the training and not have it." She looked at her new friend, "And I would like you to be able to come back to us and tell us he's cured, someday." She smiled at her friend who seemed to be having a tough time taking so much in.

"Will you stay with us, Alianna, and learn what we can teach you? Will you teach us what you can, in exchange?" The king looked at her and saw value, not only in what knowledge she could provide but as a line of knowledge back to Wakanda about events that might skip their notice.

Ali thought about what they were willing to provide her and she thought about the peace that existed in this place. "I would very much appreciate a rest, and I will teach your healers anything I can, as long as you can understand that I will one day come to you and say it is time for me to go." She couldn't miss Jamie when he emerged from behind whatever door he was being hidden. She had promised, and she intends to always keep that promise.

"I can understand that." The king looked to the guard by the door and nodded to him. "I have sent for the general of our Dora Milaje, the women who are my personal bodyguards. They have the training to help you and I'm sure they won't mind imparting it. We've been peaceful for several years and I can see them chomping at the bit, as it were."

IWAFY ** IWAFY ** IWAFY ** IWAFY **

Alianna spent almost six months in Wakanda. She learned much from the people there as well as much about herself. New skills were learned with her staff as well as with her traveling – with more skills to develop. When she left for South America, Azzuri and Nanali issued an invitation for Ali to return whenever she needed or wanted to – and to bring Jamie when she could. King Azzuri and his family became friends of hers for many years and when he and his wife died, Ali wept very sad tears for them both but knew that their young prince, T'Chaka, whom she had known since he was a boy, would make an excellent king

It wasn't until Azzuri and Nanali's grandson was a grown man, though, that Ali brought Jamie to Wakanda to meet the family that she had come to love so much.


	5. Chapter 4 Mexico City 1961

I Will Always Find You

by Sara Lady Dalian

Mexico City, 1961

Ciudad de Mèxico was one of Ali's favorite places to be in the spring. The weather was still warm without being blistering and the nights were still just a little nippy. The colors of the city were vibrant, the plants still blooming and the smells were heavenly. As she walked along the street, she sniffed at each of the food vendors looking for something good to eat that wouldn't upset the stomach too much. Granted, with her usual diet, that wasn't normally an issue, but she had more than herself to feed tonight. She found a stand that sold tamales and ordered half a dozen with various fillings and some bottled aguas frescas.

The Sidar y Rovirosa was crowded, with cars moving down the street quickly, and as several cars honked at each other next to her, she thought it was also very noisy. It had been a while since she had been in such a heavily populated area, but she found it very lively and made a good change. She'd just come back from the mountains to the south, with the native populations of the Andes, but even though Bogota was nearly the same size it didn't feel as busy as this.

As she walked down the street, she kept her eyes open, watching everything around her. She knew, better than most, that even though the night appeared peaceful, that didn't make it so. All around her everyone was talking about the judge that had been shot outside the legislative building early this morning. Everyone was wondering who had killed him, and they talked about all the policía who were searching for the assassin. She smiled slightly, she knew better than most that they wouldn't find him. And that was something she was very glad for. She had very quickly lost the part of her morality that dictated what the law said she should think about what he did, she didn't much care who lived or died as long as _he_ stayed alive. Soldat was following orders he didn't have a choice but to follow. But he was still the best there was.

Slowing down, she hiked her knapsack higher on her shoulder and looked around. She needed to go a few blocks over, so she turned down a side street that was still well populated. At this time of the afternoon, the buildings cast long, cool shadows in the street and sidewalks. This street didn't have the traffic Sidar had but there as a parking garage over to her left and that appeared to be where she was headed. In the pedestrian entrance and up the stairs she went. Just as she reached the landing, her arm was jerked and she was pulled into the shadows and with her back to the concrete wall. She could feel breath on her face and a hard body pressed against her.

"You shouldn't be here." Her breath caught at _that_ voice. She could feel her body heating up and her brain turning to mush. The voice was the one that followed her in her dreams. She chased after it and they played hide and seek where no one else could find them. "Who are you?"

They played this game each time they met, but it was deadly serious every time he asked and every time she told him. "My name is Alianna. You are James Buchanan Barnes. You were born on March 10, 1917. Your best friend is Steve, you served in the army with him. We all lived in Brooklyn. You love the sweet rolls from Kowalski's. You hate carrots but you eat them to make your ma happy." She was searching his face for recognition of something she was saying. "You fell from a train in 1945, lost your arm, and were found by the Soviets. They took you somewhere very cold. They make you complete missions for them all over the world." She reached up and touched his cheek. "We've met several times before, in different places all over the world. Are you hurt?" She ran her eyes over parts of him, looking for injuries, but didn't see any. From reports she'd heard today, he hadn't been seen and no one had any idea of who he was so she really hadn't expected any injuries.

"No." He looked at her and then down at her arm and hand. "Why are you here? You shouldn't be here. They will kill you if they find you." She couldn't decide if he was angry at her or not. She could see his mind thinking, trying to remember and hopefully catching glimpses of memory. She had no way of knowing how much would be taken from him each time he left her but she didn't count on him keeping much.

"I was worried about you and wanted to make sure you were safe and healthy. It's always too long before I see you again." Reaching up to softly move his hair from around his face. "You'd think you'd at least merit a hair cut every now and then." There was surprise in his eyes as he registered that she knew something of his circumstances. "Do your handlers expect you anywhere soon?" Smiling up at him, she saw him shake his head. Poor boy, she thought, being confused by a woman. Smirking, she asked, "Would you like to go play for a bit? I've found a wonderful swimming hole just a hop or two from here." He did not answer her but looked down at the woman who he could almost remember. She could see the wheels and cogs running in his mind as he kept trying to place her in the context of his missions. Backing away a half step, she held out her hand to him. "Coming? I promise not to hurt you and I'll bring you back. I brought dinner and it'd be a shame to waste good tamales, but it's your choice, Jamie." She could see the conflict in Jamie's face. She had no idea if he'd accept or she'd hand over the food before he'd leave.

A smile was bright on her face as he slipped his hand into hers. "Hold on tight, when I step, move with me, like a dance." She pulled him a little way into the light, and then, in the blink of an eye, and a rush of color, in between one step and the next, the city had faded into a kaleidoscope of colors.

When the color rush faded, the soldier and young woman were standing on rocks at the base of a gentle, low waterfall, somewhere in a deep forest. He stood still, trying to process what had happened. "Where are we? How did you do that?" He turned to where she had moved, a rock below him. She was taking off her boots, having set her pack and staff aside.

Slipping down a rock and putting her feet in the pool at the base of the waterfall, she told him, "I think we're somewhere in Belize, not far from the Caribbean." She pointed to the southeast, "The sea is not far there. I've been here a few times, and never seen anyone." Wiggling her feet in the water, she turned around and looked at him. "There are no snakes in the water, there's no one here but us, and if there's anyone on this Earth you're safe with, I hope you can believe it's me. Please sit down Jamie, I'm getting hungry and want to eat."

She reached over to where she had dropped their dinner and dragged it towards her. She pulled out the tamales wrapped in corn husk and the drinks. Each tamal was about 6 inches long and stuffed with all kinds of good stuff. She hoped she'd gotten enough for him to eat. She unwrapped one tamal and uncapped a bottle for herself. She pushed the rest over to him. "Eat as many as you want. I got carne de vaco, cerdo and frijoles. I'm not sure which is which, but I think I got pork."

Not looking at him, purposefully – he was as skittish as a cat on a hot tin roof, she continued, "I found a place something like this in the Pyrenees when I was there before I first saw you again in Rome. It wasn't this warm, of course, but just as beautiful. I didn't stay as long as I would have liked, and I'd like to visit again sometime. The people there were great, once you get to know them. They've got a way of telling a story that makes you seem like you were really there. I didn't learn much of their language, unfortunately; I've never heard anything like it. I don't know if you remember, but there seemed to be a lot of different languages in our neighborhood but nothing like that." As she was speaking, she heard him unwrap a tamal and start to eat.

"You don't seem to have any trouble with language. I think I remember you speaking several." He turned his head, studying the woman who had brought him here. He seemed to have several memories of her buried in his mind, memories of her bathed in light. Memories of her speaking softly to him, cleaning wounds, sitting like this eating a meal. Whenever he went out, she always seemed to show up when he was alone.

"I've learned. When we were kids, I learned Italian and Greek, pretty well. Since I've been traveling I've mostly picked up Turkish, Spanish and French as well some African languages. With those, I can get buy almost anywhere." Finishing her tamal, she took another swig from her bottle. "As to your earlier question, I'm not sure how I travel this way. It's a relatively new skill and I'm just learning the basics." She looked far away for a bit. "A wise woman told me not long ago that we're provided the means to conquer our greatest challenges if we only look for the answers. I obviously needed this skill, though I don't really know what it is. And I'm glad I have it because it means I have this time with you." Standing up, she stretched her arms over her head.

"Where did you get that staff," he asked her looking at her pile of belongings. She had laid it with her knapsack down back on the rocks they ate lunch on.

"In Kenya. I was working with the women of one of the Maasai tribes there to learn about their healing plants and herbs." She took another drink. "Ever since I was a kid I was a bit of a scrapper. I usually had something on me that I could use to protect myself." Laughing, she remembered the first time she ever got in a fight out in the neighborhood. "You actually taught me to throw a punch when I was 11." The memory came swimming back behind her eyes. "The Maasai didn't really know what to make of me, a woman traveling the world on my own. One of their warriors caught me hunting on their land and brought me before the council. They weren't too happy that I was there without a man to keep me in line.

"This clan, the chief's eldest wife was named Naeku, she made and carved the staff as a gift. Her eldest daughter was having a difficult pregnancy and had lost several babies. There was a plant that I had seen in the area that was similar to one used in Turkey, that helped women give birth. I told Naeku about it, and what it was used for there. She and her daughter said we should try it. I don't know if it was the herb or not, but the baby was born healthy and the mother lived. The men didn't like that she had given me the staff, but somehow Naeku talked them around to letting me keep it. She said it was because I needed it on my travels." She sat for a few minutes, thinking about the women she had met there, and the wonderful place she had been sent from there. Naeku was not Maasai by birth, but by choice as she married into the clan. She sent me to her sisters in Wakanda to learn how to use the staff as a weapon.

She had been expecting his silence, so she was mildly surprised when he asked, "Would you like me to show you how to use it?"

Looking over at him, she saw interest in his eyes. When she briefly thought, she shouldn't have been surprised. His trade for years had been weapons of all kinds and here she was with one he couldn't have thought she knew much about. "I've had some practice and had some help, here and there. But I will learn anything you wish to teach me." She looked around. "There's a clearing about 10 meters behind us or the shallows of the pool are sandy. Which would be better?"

He looked at the pool, "Clearing. That way you won't lose your footing because of the shifting sands. Put your boots back on and come on." His voice was authoritative and knowledgeable. This could be interesting! In all their meetings, they had never shared something of this nature. It was a new aspect of Jamie that she was glad to see, a way to share something he was good at with him and the chance to hone her survival skills. She looked forward to this.

As she slipped her boots back on, she looked over her shoulder to watch him head to the clearing behind them. It wasn't large, maybe 15 meters across, but it should be enough for a simple lesson. As she walked into the clearing, she saw him cutting down a similar sized piece to use. Not being overly familiar with the wood options here, she had to accept it would do, if just for now.

He tossed it lightly in his hands and wove it around him in circular patterns, stopping to trim a little off the end with a huge knife that he put back into his thigh holster, to make the staff slightly shorter. She had used her staff as a bar to stretch around. It was an exercise that the Dora Milaje had taught her to become familiar with the dimensions and strength of her staff. While she was bending and stretching, she kept her eyes on him, if only to watch beauty in motion.

It wasn't long before he was showing her how to use it to extend her reach, places to jab at an opponent to incapacitate them and ways to sweep an opponent off their feet with her staff. He made her practice each maneuver on him several times, telling her that if she could perform the move on him, she'd be successful on anyone else she needed it for.

After an hour, with the light nearly gone, she asked him, "When do I need to take you back?" She was hoping for something sensible, like 'in a week' or 'never,' but she didn't hold out much hope, really. She was looking into his eyes and he could see hope, longing, and happiness there.

The realization of what she was really asking slammed into his brain. She knew what he was, at least had a good idea, and still wanted to be with him. She made it her business to be with him, to care for him. It was a feeling he couldn't remember receiving before. "I need to be back by tomorrow evening. I'm supposed to be laying low to keep the police out of my hair before I'm retrieved." She heard the smirk more than saw it since the evening was so progressed.

"So, we don't have to hurry, you can stay the night? I was planning to make camp here tonight, either way." She wasn't looking at him, but rather, she was slipping off her boots and inspecting the soles. It was possible she would have to get a new pair or get these repaired before she left to head out of the area. It was possible that she missed him coming to kneel down before her since it was dark, and she had been inspecting her boots, but she didn't miss the hand under her chin.

"If there's something I shouldn't do, it's stay the night with you." He rubbed her cheek with his metal thumb and growled when he realized that she wasn't afraid, insulted or repulsed by the prosthetic. No, she was leaning into his hand and making the most delectable mewing sound deep in her throat. He shouldn't stay here with her but damned if he would give up the chance. "But if the offer stands, I'll be here as long as I can be, Alianna."

The air she sucked into her lungs at the sound of her name tasted like a drug she couldn't resist. It was tinged with water, soil, darkness, life and him. She looked up at him and smiled a peaceful smile, content in his presence and especially in his arms. Even over the long years they eventually had together, she never knew who had kissed who first, and she didn't care. She only knew that she was there with her Jamie and he had said her name for the first time since he left for war.

When he finally got up in the morning and left the pallet they had made with the single blanket she carried and some tree fronds, he found her at the edge of the pool. "Do you want to go swimming? The water's cool, but not too cold." She looked over at him, wondering if he'd take her up on the offer. She heard nothing form him for a minute. When she looked back at him, he was staring at her with a very intense look. She couldn't decide what he was thinking, so she slipped off the rocks and into the pool. She wouldn't be able to stay in long but she'd at least get a bath. Swimming out a little way into the pool in front of the waterfall and used the sand at the bottom of the pool to clean herself with. It wasn't soap, but it would work and wouldn't hurt the water. After a few minutes, she swam over to the waterfall and stood under it, giggling at the feel of the rushing water over her head and body when she was suddenly pulled under water. Recognizing the feel of the hands that had her, she kicked and swam away, starting a game of chase that lasted until she got too cold to continue.

After she got out of the water, she surprised Jamie by picking up their staves again. Throwing his to him, she walked to the clearing. Neither much bothered that they hadn't any clothes on. She knew that he likely would best her, if only on strength alone, but to let him know that she was capable of seeing to herself. Making sure to incorporate the tricks that he had taught her into the style that her Wakandan friends used, she spared with him for more than an hour. At first, she could see he wasn't fully expecting her to be able to last any time at all, but with the ability to travel silently, she was able to surprise him more than once. In the end, both were left with a little more faith in her capabilities. He had overpowered her, but she had held her own, more than enough to hold her own and escape if needed.

Later that evening, after dining on a local rabbit for lunch and more time spent just enjoying him, she took him back to a quiet, empty building a few blocks from the garage that they left from. She didn't ask him any questions but only told him the same thing she always told him. "Stay safe and do what you have to do to stay alive. I will always find you, Jamie." As he turned out the door and past her field of sight, she said under her breath, "I love you." If she was honest with herself, she had loved him since she was nine years old.

Over the long years they had, both while he was Soldat and after, they returned to that waterfall many times. It was always a favorite of theirs when they needed to get away from the stress of modern life they eventually lead.


	6. Chapter 5 - Russia 1965

I Will Always Find You

by Sara, the Lady Dalian

Somewhere in Russia, 1965

She hadn't realized until she saw the building where Jamie was being kept that her first impression of the place through her tether to Jamie was correct. The place is slimy. As she waited for someone to open the door that went into the building, she tried to keep still, even in the cold. It was May and, though the ground was clear, still bloody freezing.

Finally, a group of loud men pulled open the door and tromped in with enough time for her to slip in. She thanked the powers that be, one more time, for the ability to become unseen. She knew there wouldn't be any way for her to get into here without it. Each room she came upon was filled with people, but not anything that looked like it would lead her to where they were keeping Jamie. Besides, she didn't think she'd be lucky enough to find him in the first room on the right off the main corridor. As she passed different doors, she saw the emblems and lettering on the walls. While she had picked up German pretty quickly as it was spoken by some of her neighbors back home, she had learned very little Russian, and that was a situation she would have to remedy soon.

Hallway after hallway, door after door, smelly man after smelly man, she looked. Through the rooms she visited Ali looked for any sign of her Jamie, but there was nothing. The men working on these levels shivered as she passed by, unnoticed, but didn't speak any word she recognized. She would have to keep searching.

And, finally, six levels down she found what she was looking for. In the basement of the building, cliched but true, she found a laboratory with several workstations facing a giant glass tube-like coffin. Around her, men were relaying readings on "soldat." She recognized that word, Jamie had used it before. Passing behind the men sitting in chairs before control boards of some such, she looked to see what they were monitoring. Bending over the boards so she could see what they were, she brushed a man in a white lab coat and caused him to flinch, seemingly at nothing. Moving towards the glass tube, as there was nothing else that could be connected to the instruments, she saw frost on the glass. Inside was a figure she could barely make out. His eyes were closed and his hair had fallen over part of his face, but he looked like Jamie.

She hadn't known what to expect, but this would certainly explain the constant cold she got between the periods of intense movement. She had no idea if ghosting would work through the glass and cold, though Ali had never had trouble been able to move somewhere before. But she didn't know if the instruments would detect her presence in the tube. Deciding to wait to see if there was a time that the tube was not quite so monitored, she hunched down in a corner where she was out of the way and could watch Jamie's tube.

A few hours later most of the men had left, complaining about something but not what exactly. Damned language barrier again. The two that were still in the chamber were not at the instruments that seemed to monitor Jamie. Figuring this was as good a time as any, she moved back towards the tube and slipped through. Pausing, she listened for the instruments but didn't hear any changes. Remembering what had happened the few times she had someone pass right through her as she was ghosting, she slid right on top of Jamie and _sank_ in.

At first, she had a hard time finding her way in his mind. Being in another's mind was much like the between that she inhabited and moved in when she ghosted from one place to another, unseen; the experience also had overtones of a dream state. There was a little light being given off, surprisingly by a very small group of memories mixed throughout his mind, but it was just enough. As she pushed through the clouds of memories, she found they were red and raw on the edges and wanted to find a way to soothe them, certain that they were damaged. As she moved closer, she found that, even if the memory was harsh and violent, if she thought about how much Jamie meant to her, how much she wanted him to be safe and cared for, the redness eased and the angry vibrancy calmed. She moved more and more through his mind and memories, soothing and calming where she could.

His memories seemed to be grouped in a Before and After he fell from the train, the labels almost vibrant in his mind. Most of the memories Before were still calm and didn't need much healing. The memories After were another story. They were all red and swollen, much as flesh that's been sliced with a dull, dirty blade was ragged and has festered, unhealed. Since she was sure that all of the memories Before his fall were those that would be most distinctly those of her Jamie, she moved them to one side and separated them from the ones that were in various stages of festering. The only ones she didn't recognize were the ones giving off the light. They seemed to want to intertwine with both the Before and After, but didn't cause any damage, so she left them be, still wondering what they were.

Time had no meaning for her there in Jamie's mind. She sorted through his memories, not watching any, just healing. When she had healed as many as she could, she saw that the memories that had been infected were trying to mix back in with the Before memories. As they did, she saw the After memories begin to get red and swollen again, as if the Before memories were making them angry. Deciding it would be best to somehow separate these two groups, she formed a barrier between the Before and the After. This allowed the After to swarm and flow without being affected by the Before. This kept them from getting that red and angry tinge around the edges.

Once the memories were sorted, corralled and healed, she looked back over the landscape in Jamie's mind. As she payed more and more attention, she began to see the neighborhood they grew up in emerge. She walked through the town, looking for things she remembered. The Barnes' and Rogers' apartments were covered in the white light that was causing Jamie's mind to be illuminated. It felt familiar, but as she didn't want to intrude, she moved on. Kowalski's was full of warmth and sweet smells. It was down by the docks that she noticed angry red words written across the water, almost as if there were neon lights placed just under the surface of the water. It looked eerie and foreboding. She felt Jamie's mind shiver and shrink away from those words as if they terrified him. Deciding that she had done enough for that moment, she let herself drift in Jamie's presence. To soothe the disturbance that she felt from the angry words and harsh lights she projected memories she had of Jamie and Steve on the sky of his mind, as if they were all laying on the roof of their apartment building, watching the fireworks in the summer. When they had run through her favorite memories, she played some of the memories she had of her journey to find Jamie. It was after that she realized that Jamie had started playing some of his memories for her. Smiling, she leaned back and watched the picture show, feeling as if she were wrapped up in a familiar blanket.

When she awoke, she recognized the increased activity around Jamie's tube and thought it would be better to get out and make her way somewhere else. She sent a mental message to Jamie, telling him to take care and be well before she left.

As she left the cold room at the bottom of the building, she passed a door that was slightly open with busy sounds coming from it, and the smell of cooking. Curiously, she poked her head in the door. Men in tall chefs hats were preparing what looked like breakfast. There were vast pots of porridge cooking on the hopper and Ali grinned wickedly.

Slipping out the door, she looked around until she found a cleaning closet. There she found a small, familiar box. Taking the box back to the kitchen, she waited until the cooks were occupied in other tasks and poured the entire box of arsenic in the porridge. Smiling, she silently wished the HYDRA men a good meal.

The building was still slimy as she left, still very cold. As she passed out of the building, she read the lettering on the doors she passed, trying to remember so she would be able to find him more easily next time. As she slipped out of the building, she noticed the snow piled nearly a meter high next to the building, she had been gone much longer than she had believed.

AN: As always, I own nothing that you found familiar. Hope you are all having a great weekend.


	7. Interlude 2 - HYDRA 1971

I Will Always Find You

By Sara Lady Dalian

Interlude 2 – HYDRA Compound Canadian Rockies – 1971

The sounds of heavy boots echoed on the concrete corridors leading deep into the mountain, echoed by a scuffling drag. Heavy doors slid shut behind the boots, too heavy to slam shut, but still definite in their intention to keep out those who didn't belong. Dull yellow lights line the corridor, barely enough to see by. But the boots and drag don't seem to be bothered by the low light. They continue on, into the mountain, until they reach another heavy door that slides open as they approach.

Guns are suddenly pointed at the men coming in through the door. The two men being dragged through the mountain are thrown across the room and into the back wall. Heedless of the many deadly guns pointed at him, the soldier stalks his whimpering prey. "You stupid bastards! Just had to be the big men didn't you?" He picks one of them up and shakes until he screams. "Got what you needed, huh? Was fucking up the mission worth it?" His grey eyes seemed to freeze over as he pinned one man to the wall with his metal hand and the other to the concrete floor with a boot to the trachea.

Behind the three, guns cocked and footsteps moved closer. "If I didn't think killing you would cause more trouble, I'd have left your bodies to rot." The Asset, the Soldier, Soldat, squeezed both men almost to the brink of death and insanity before a new sound, a different kind of shoes, were heard behind them. Guns were put at parade rest and guards stood down.

"Let them up, Soldier." Arm and boot released their prisoners and men breathed in air that they had given up hope for. "Mission report! Start with these two."

Soldat turned to face the voice. Controllers tended to be more permanent than handlers, but this one was fairly new. Long, wild hair and loose skin, he looked antiquated, but Soldat knew that he was, in fact, mean as a boar hog and strong enough to take down several guards himself. His voice was rough and direct, expecting order and obedience.

"The warehouse was secured as planned. We observed the target's location and determined that the best time to take out the target would be in the early evening. These two left the location to secure sustenance and came back with a young girl they had kidnapped with the purpose of using her for sex." The Asset saw the Controllers face harden at the mention of procedure violations. "The girl was more troublesome than they expected. She put them on their backs, knocked them out and tied them up. She had not noticed the Asset until afterward." He looked at the Controller to see if more questions would be asked. "At 1836 the target left the building and the mission was completed. Asset moved the downed handlers to the prearranged extraction location. Extraction was efficient and these two regained consciousness during the flight."

The controller walked around the Asset to look at the two agents rubbing the various damaged parts of their body. "He asked you if it was worth it. I think that's a fair question. You endangered a very important mission to get your dicks wet and got your ass handed to you instead." The Controller looked them over before continuing. "If you couldn't handle a little girl, then you have no business being on this team." He looked back at the Asset. "Report to the lab once the garbage is taken out." And with that, the controller walked out of the room, the guards with him.

The Asset turned and with two precise pulls on his pistol had completed the orders that he had thoroughly enjoyed.

The walk to the lab was silent. The Asset could see people scurry away from him, afraid to meet his eyes. It was always like this after a mission, as if people were afraid of the work he did. A few corridors over he turned into a room he sometimes used between missions if he wasn't going to be in the chair or cryo. It was only a simple bed and hygiene station. After washing his hands and face, he sat on the bed and remembered all that he hadn't told the Controller.

The girl that had been found was familiar, black hair pulled back and vibrant eyes. Asset found her movements familiar as if he could see how she would move. When she had turned and seen him at the window, she wasn't shocked or frightened. She smiled at him before picking up the food that the now destroyed handlers had brought. She had sat at the window, back against the wall, and watched him watch the building opposite the window. His mind had painted a glow around her, something vaguely familiar and comforting. He ate the food that she handed him but kept his attention on his target. After she was finished, she sat quietly with him for several hours until it was almost time for his target to appear.

He had turned to her and said quietly, "It's time for you to go, Alianna." Somehow, he was aware of not wanting her to go, wanting her to stay, and of wanting to be somewhere else with her, somewhere safe. She was soothing. But he knew that when he took out his mission, he would have to make his way to the extraction point, and she couldn't come with him. He hadn't known, until he said it, that he knew her name.

She just nodded to him and knelt closer to him. Reaching up, she kissed his temple before looking deeply into his eyes. "Someday, Jamie, hopefully someday soon, this will all be over. I think I'm getting close to what we need and then we can get you freed from them. Stay safe and do what you need to do to survive." The words were familiar and warm. He looked at the hand she had threaded through his hair. "I will always find you, Jamie." Raising from her knees, she kissed his cheek, just above the edge of the mask on his cheekbone. Slinging her staff into the holster on her back, she walked into the darkness of the warehouse without turning back.

Thinking of the girl, Alianna, again while sitting on his bed, seemed to be forbidden, somehow. She brought shadows of memories to his mind, vague and fleeting. Familiarity, warmth, healing, want, need, desperation. Whatever it was she was to him, whoever she was, he wanted to remember.

As he walked to the lab, he concentrated on her face, her eyes, her voice, and her name. He tried to remember everything that he could about her. He tried to remember because he was all too familiar with the process of forgetting.

Sitting down in the chair, he heard her voice, "Stay safe and do what you need to do to survive. I will always find you, Jamie."

As the pain began, the only sound he heard beyond his own screams was the whisper inside his head, "lee lee," over and over.

AN: I'm sorry this is so late. I've been in the hospital twice and had a severe infection that limited most of my computer/screen time. There are several more scenes we've got to get through until we get to the end of this work. We'll be going to London and Buenos Aires before we go back to the US for Washington and New York. If anyone also reads Howlies, I've got an update on that in the works, but I'm not happy with the way the transition happens so I'm still working on it.


End file.
